#Rod Roddenberry

[scifi4wifi]

Heritage Auctions Returns TV’s First ‘USS Enterprise’ to Eugene Roddenberry Jr., Son of ‘Star Trek’ Creator Gene Roddenberry

DALLAS, Texas (April 18, 2024) – The original USS Enterprise has completed its voyage home. On Saturday, Heritage Auctions Executive Vice President Joe Maddalena returned the 3-foot-long model of the Federation’s flagship, used in the original Star Trek series’ opening credits, to Eugene “Rod” Roddenberry Jr., son of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and caretaker of his father’s legacy. The…

[kinsey3furry300]

I Feel that it's very funny that The Twilight Zone, Star Trek and Dune are such wildly different takes on the universe, and yet are all a product of the same generation of white American sci fi writers. Like, "Hey what flavour do you want your future to be? Spooky, Utopian or Cocaine-knife-fight?"

[rainbowresurrection]

Two writers who I would have liked to have seen take a crack at writing a star trek episode: Kurt Vonnegut and Ray Bradbury

[mckitterick]

this is the same power of speculative fiction that motivated Gene Roddenberry to create Star Trek - and which has driven so many spec-fic authors to create the work they have since the beginnings of literature

science fiction is subversive literature, questioning the status quo and asking "what if?" things were different, "if this goes on..." about issues existentially threatening societal or species survival

it gets around censorship better than mainstream fiction, because it uses the literal metaphor rather than directly calling out politicians or corporations or whatever is actively causing harm in the here-and-now

and because it's not about us, here, at this moment, the audience more easily hears the message - it's not about me, it's about aliens or ghosts or some distant future or ancient past or whatever

i learned that the Twilight Zone was created after Rod Serling’s teleplay inspired by Emmett Till’s murder was heavily censored by networks and advertisers. The censorship led Serling to rethink his approach and delve into the era’s social issues through a filter of science fiction and fantasy (x)

[lonestarflight]

AU Space Shuttle Enterprise

Circa 1985 to 1987

From my Alternative History Post (link) this is how the Space Shuttle Enterprise evolved from the 4th operational orbiter in 1985 to the prototype unmanned shuttle.

More History on the Shuttle:

• April 1983: Enterprise is returned to Palmdale for her disassembled and rebuild.

• As a weight saving measure her mid-fuselage is returned to Convair for a complete rebuild to bring it inline with OV-103 and OV-104.

• to further lighten her frame, her aft-fuselage is rebuilt with similar materials as her sisters.

• Engineers at Rockwell suggests rebuilding or replacing her wings as well but NASA doesn't have room in the budget.

• May 1985: at long last, Enterprise is rolled out and joins the fleet. She weighs slightly less than Columbia. Her main issue is her wings are heavier and weaker than the other Orbiters.

• September 1985: STS-21 is Enterprise's first mission

• 1987: During the Shuttle hiatus following the Challenger Disaster, she went through a mini refit that saw her exterior markings change. (NASA in this timeline returned to the Meatball logo sooner than in the OTL)

Circa 1988 to 1993

• April 1988: STS-30 is Enterprise's first launch following the hiatus.

• December 1993: following STS-61, Enterprise is retired due to being the oldest in the fleet. Endeavour takes her place in the fleet.

• June 1994: Enterprise is flown to Dulles Airport, Washington DC, and is given to the Smithsonian for eventual display when the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center is built. NASA retains the option recalled her if needed.

• 1998: NASA studies modifying the Shuttle-C software to work on the Space Shuttle and potentially using Enterprise as a reusable Shuttle-C. The reasoning behind this option this configuration would be a cheaper alternative to the X-33 program. However, while the shuttle could be retrofitted with the software, the shuttle would have less cargo capacity than the X-33 and still required use of expensive legacy launch facilities (ie VAB and LC-39). The study ends with only the software in a beta state.

• December 2003: Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center is opened with Enterprise being one of its major exhibits.

• November 2003: the Shuttle-C software is used to return STS-118 Columbia to Earth and with critical damage to her structure (mainly her port wing and some internal damage from a collapsed landing gear).

• May 2004: NASA recalls Enterprise to replace Columbia.

• August 2004: initial plans are to return her flight, unmodified. However, NASA develops the Shuttle-C software further and changes it's name to A.S.Tr.O.S (Autonomous Space Transport Operating System).

• New wings! Enterprise is fitted with new wings which are of a modified design and lighter and stronger than the wings of her sisters. With other upgrades and modifications, she is slightly lighter than her younger sisters.

• Some within NASA joking refer to her as Enterprise-A, as a reference to Star Trek.

• September 2006: to commemorate the 30th anniversary of her unveiling to the media, Lockheed-Rockwell rolls her out of their Palmdale facility to rechristen the Shuttle. In attendance, Leonard Nimoy, George Takei, Nichelle Nicholas, Walter Koenig, Christopher Doohan and Rod Roddenberry.

- when asked by the media, Leonard remarked she is still a sight to behold and is glad she will continue her mission of exploration.

Enterprise A (unmanned)

• July 2006: to test the A.S.Tr.O.S. during a return to earth and landing, a new series of Approach and Landing Tests (ALT) were conducted with NASA's 747 SCA (N905NA) at the Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards Air Force Base. 15 flights are flown to put the software in the real world, with two astronauts on board to step in when needed. Barring some higher than normal landing speeds, the software passes all of its objectives.

• It should be noted, while the rebuilt Enterprise is mainly used as an unmanned orbiter, this is a misnomer. It is more accurate to call her a hybrid shuttle. NASA has the option to convert her back into a manned shuttle if desired or needed.

- This nearly was used in 2015 during STS-154. Space Shuttle Atlantis was after conducting maintenance/upgrades on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), the crew was unable to disconnect the shuttle from the telescope. CTS-48 Enterprise was already on LC-39B for a cargo mission to the International Space Station. All that was needed was to remove supplies from the payload bay and reinstall the seats in her crew space. Fortunately, this rescue wasn't needed as the Astronauts conducted an unscheduled EVA and manually disconnected the Shuttle from the HST.

• November 2008: first flight of Enterprise-A (CTS-11)

• When Columbia was given a cosmic restoration for her display, the first set of wings from Enterprise was used to replace her damaged one.

• 2019: Enterprise is retired for the final time following CTS-74.

• 2020: Enterprise is on display at Space Center Houston with the restored Star Trek Galileo Shuttlecraft prop.

Original artwork by bagera3005: link, link, link

[fancoloredglasses]

Star Trek (Hard to believe I hadn't reviewed this yet), Part 1: TOS

[All images are owned by Paramount. Please don’t sue me]

If you’ve been living under a rock for the past nearly 60 years, this will all be news to you. Otherwise, you’ll be wondering why I’m deciding to review this of all things. Some may even cynically be thinking I’m running out of things to review.

The answer is simple: I don’t review episodes of series I haven’t done a review of, and I’ve recently found a bunch of YouTube clips of scenes I don’t remember seeing. (Not surprising; in every Trek series since The Next Generation I went in with enthusiasm, but then Life Happened and I fell off until I found out the series was ending and HAD to see the finale)

Now, as I’ve stated, I don’t like to review series that are ongoing. For that reason (and the fact I don’t have Paramount+), I will not be touching ANY Trek that debuted (or premiered) after 2009. Also, to give each “era” of Trek its own spotlight (and NOT, as some of you may be thinking, I’m short on ideas!), I will be doing each series separately, starting with The Original Series (or TOS).

(Thanks to dinadangdong)

Star Trek was created by Gene Roddenberry, who was previously known for TV series set in the Old West. It should be no surprise that (a) the show was dubbed “Wagon Train in space" (a Western series that ended the year before Star Trek debuted) and (b) the show at times felt like the Wild West in terms of brawls and playing fast and loose with the law (in particular, the Prime Directive: Do not interfere in the development of less advanced civilizations)

The series tells of the potential of humanity: a utopia where Earth is united and everyone gets along, so now they’ve decided to bring their influence to the stars by forming the United Federation of Planets (or “the Federation”) and exploring the galaxy in the 23rd century.

Now, let’s meet the star of the series…

The USS (short for “United Space Ship”) Enterprise (designation NCC-1701), a Constitution class starship, which boasts cutting-edge technology for the Federation…

…despite the fact that the interfaces look outdated compared to “modern” technology less than 10 years after the series ended.

The Enterprise boasted advanced technology such as…

Warp drives that enable craft to travel faster that light (according to publications that were released following the end of the series the speed was the “warp factor” cubed, so Warp Factor (or simply Warp) 5 would be 125 (5 x 5 x 5) times the speed of light (The only issue with this is timing: the closest star to the sun is Alpha Centauri (about 4.3 light years away). At Warp 5, it would take the Enterprise almost 13 days to travel the distance. Yes, I’m that big of a geek) The Warp drives are also the power source of the ship, using a matter/antimatter reaction that’s controlled using a substance known as dilithium crystals (much in the same way cadmium rods are used to keep nuclear power plants from melting down)

Energy fields (known as deflector shields) able to mitigate the impact of an enemy’s weaponry

Transporters that are able to disintegrate matter, then nearly instantaneously reassemble it several miles away (if it’s a living being, not only are they still alive, but they retain all of their memories!), but are unable to penetrate deflector shields (this closes the plot hole that says enemies can board a ship during a battle using transporters) FUN FACT: Roddenberry devised the transporters because he couldn’t figure out how a ship designed like the Enterprise would be able to land.

But enough about the ship, on to the crew, and what a crew it is! (over 400 personnel, to be exact)

First off, the crew has three designations, each with a different colored shirt: Gold represents operations division (including command, helm, navigation, and fire control), blue represents sciences (including medical), and red represents service division (including security and engineering) In cases where a member of another division is in a command position, that division’s color is worn (which explains why the Enterprise’s First Officer (also its Chief Science Officer) wears blue)

The Enterprise’s commanding officer is Captain James T. Kirk (played by William Shatner) [FUN FACT: Kirk’s full middle name (Tiberius) isn’t mentioned until a few years later; in addition, Kirk’s middle initial was R in the second pilot (more on that later)] Kirk is a seat-of-his-pants space jockey who tends to play fast and loose with the Prime Directive.

(Thanks to Memory Alpha)

Despite this, Kirk cares deeply about his ship and crew (as long as they’re not wearing red shirts (more on that later as well))

Kirk’s First Officer (and Science Officer) is Commander Spock (played by Leonard Nimoy), a member of an alien race known as Vulcans (actually half-Vulcan, as his mother is human) Vulcans show no emotion, relying on logic to dictate their actions (in the original pilot (I promise I’ll circle back to all of this) Spock showed emotion; the lack of emotion didn’t come into play until the second pilot) In the course of the series, Vulcans became more defined (usually suggested by Nimoy), including a nerve pinch that knocks out its victim (because Nimoy couldn’t see Spock cold-cocking someone), the Vulcan salute (shown above, which is from a Jewish ritual Nimoy observed as a boy), and the mind-meld, which allows a Vulcan to share memories with another (and vice versa)

Rounding out the main cast is the Chief Medical Officer, Lt. Commander Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy (the nickname “Bones” refers to an old Earth nickname for surgeons as “Sawbones”, since most field surgeons were forced to amputate injured limbs to save their patients) McCoy is a curmudgeony individual who enjoys teasing Spock about his Vulcan heritage (almost to the point of bigotry), but there was no doubt there was friendship between the two (and Kirk)

There are two phrases that McCoy utters repeatedly in the series that have made nearly any reenactment of the character seem almost a parody…

(Thanks to Scott Cole)

(Thanks to RichardIsBig)

As far as the supporting cast, it was years ahead of its time, showing a diversity never seen in the 60s!

The Chief Engineer is Lt. Commander Montgomery “Scotty” Scott (played by James Doohan) FUN FACT: Doohan tried several accents in his audition before the Roddenberry settled on the Scottish one.

The Chief Helmsman is Lt. Hikaru Sulu (played by George Takei) Following the series, Takei came out as gay and used his status as a sci-fi icon to became an advocate for gay rights.

The Chief Communications Officer is Lt. Uhura (played by Nichelle Nichols) No first name was ever given until almost 50 years later.

Nichols had two inspirational stories about her time on the show she liked to share at the conventions. The first was how she wanted to quit the show due to her character not really doing much of anything, but was inspired to stay by a certain black comic that no one really wants to talk about any more. The other is about a famous black actress who was inspired by her character and eventually got a role on the Enterprise herself! (I’ll discuss her in a future review)

There were also two recurring supporting roles that had importance to the series..

Ensign Christine Chapel (played by Roddenberry’s wife Majel Barrett) is Dr. McCoy’s chief nurse. She also has a major crush on Spock (FUN FACT: This was Barrett’s second role for Star Trek. The first was First Officer (known simply as “Number One”) in the first pilot of the series. Yes, I’ll be discussing this later)

Crewman Janice Rand (played by Grace Lee Whitney) was Kirk’s Yoeman (personal assistant) and was intended to be a love interest as the series progressed, but the network wanted to see Kirk be a “ladies man”, so her character disappeared following Season 1 (though her character would return as cameos in the films)

The second season saw not only the reassignment of Crewman Rand, but the assignment of a permanent Navigator (it’s never explained why the ship needs a navigator when the computer could easily do so)

Ensign Pavel Chekov (played by Walter Koenig) is of Russian heritage (there are two stories as to why the character was added (either, both, or neither could be true): Roddenberry said that the Russians complained that they weren’t represented on a show that talks about a united Earth, while at least one book said that Koenig was cast to appeal to a younger (female) audience, which explains why his early haircut resembles Davey Jones’s)

I would be remiss in my review if I didn't mention the trope that endures to this day: Redshirts!

Because Security's uniform top is red, and the fact that Security are often targeted (and tend to die quite often) when the ship is boarded or a landing party is attacked, the term "redshirt" became used for the extras whose job it is to die messily in any sci-fi series.

(Thanks to comedy4cast)

Of course, every shining beacon of hope needs people casting shade. There are plenty of threats against the Enterprise and her crew, but there are a couple that seem to show up quite a bit.

The Klingon Empire is the main antagonist against Federation expansion. They are a warrior race bent on conquest.

(Klingons are often cast using black actors…at least I hope they’re black and not using blackface!)

The Romulan Star Empire is another war-mongering people (funny how two aggressive races managed to sandwich a peaceful coalition between them) Like the Klingons, their ships are equipped with cloaking devices making their ships invisible to visual and sensor identification (fortunately, they have to drop their cloak to fire of they’d have conquered the galaxy by now)

As you can see, the Romulans are distantly related to the Vulcans, but they retain their emotional, savage side instead of relying on logic.

The series often dealt with rather weighty topics (such as racism and nuclear war), but also had its share of goofy episodes (such as dealing with space Nazis, space gangsters, space Romans, and evil doppelgangers)

The series almost didn't get off the ground, as the original pilot (with Captain Christopher Pike commanding) was rejected by NBC as "too cerebral", but a second, more action-oriented pilot with Kirk commanding was accepted and the rest is history.

The series lasted three seasons before it was abruptly cancelled. Saturday Night gave the fans a fitting sendoff.

(Thanks to Saturday Night Live)

This should’ve been the end of Star Trek’s story, but fan support kept the series alive years after its cancellation. Enough so that the Enterprise got another shot at the small screen years later.

…but that’s a tale for another review.

If you would like to watch the series, it’s available on Paramount+, PlutoTV, or behind your favorite paywall. If you would like to see an episode reviewed, please let me know!

Before I go, I would like to offer up a little ditty about what happens when the crew of the Enterprise are allowed a break from exploring the galaxy, courtesy of Leslie Fish…

(Thanks to Songs from the Stars)

[giffingthingsss]

Rod Roddenberry's top three Trek series: "Prodigy's number one."

[curator-on-ao3]

⭐ Director's Cut on the First Impressions ficlets, please!

Bahaha! Thank you for asking about those, @fiadorable! ❤️😂

Okay, so the trio of ficlets that form First Impressions are all … first impressions … in the context of two first officers — Jack Ransom and Una Chin-Riley. I originally posted the first and second ficlets to Tumblr (sort of glorified shitpost fics) and people asked me to put them on AO3, which was really nice. I put all three stories on AO3 a few days before the Lower Decks/Strange New Worlds crossover was announced and I thought, “Whoa. Of all my crackships, is Chansom actually going to go canon?!” So, yep, the joke in the crossover made me happy because how can you have first officer actors married to each other and not make a joke about it? The show did good.

Anyway, for the first ficlet, Jack Ransom falling for an Una Chin-Riley hologram (and Mariner teasing him about pulling a Geordi LaForge/Leah Brahms) was fun, and Jack meeting — and respecting — the actual Una as an aged and wise ambassador, all in the service of Jack’s emotional journey for his own self-confidence, was nice to explore. I see Jack as having a really beautiful and needy heart that he hides to protect himself (per Deanna Troi’s analysis). Letting Jack be vulnerable with Una made my own heart happy.

For the second ficlet, I was amused by the number of Trek characters played by married Trek actors and I wanted to get them all into one place. Hence, the nightclub that in my mind is officially named “Okudas,” but I couldn’t get that in there. Having Kira and Bashir (married actors!) comment on Jack and Una (married actors!) while reflecting on Tilly and Ryn (married actors!) and so, so many more had me smiling. (B’Elanna and Damar! Spock and Admiral Rollman! Jean-Luc Picard and the lounge singer from a dive bar in 21st century Los Angeles!) I like to believe that once Una and Jack figured out why they were at the nightclub (“Okay, so we’re fictional characters played by actors who are married to each other. That’s ummm …” “Not even the strangest thing to ever happen to me.” “Yeah, same.”) that they sort of warily circled each other, then Jack made a joke about testing out the ol’ rod and berries (yeah, a Roddenberry dirty joke — I truly believe Jack would go there) and Jack got nervous when Una seemed annoyed at first by his humor … but then he saw the amusement in her eyes and they both absolutely cracked up laughing.

The third ficlet was the only one of the trio that I wrote directly for AO3 (didn’t begin life as a Tumblr fic shitpost). And I have to say, I have a special place in my heart for it. The way Christopher Pike initially dismisses Jack Ransom as an idiot and, sure, it’s fine if Una has history with this guy from the future because it’s obviously just physical attraction and … what’s that? Jack is actually intelligent? Well, shit. Writing Chris becoming more and more insecure while Jack and Una have no idea that Chris is freaking out … and Chief Kyle just wants everyone out of the transporter room … had me laughing (lovingly) as I wrote and every time I edited.

Thank you so much, @fiadorable, for asking about that trio of firsts for two of my favorite first officers. ❤️

Want more information about a fic I wrote? Send me an ask.

[solo-rpg-rambling]

Character Creation Challenge #10: "Rod" Roddenberry (Entity RPG)

Entity is set in a galaxy where generations of androids have survived longer than humans. "Rod" Roddenberry has been marooned on an alien world with abundant technology they can't use or understand. The game has a nice loop of random-table challenges and discoveries while managing a resource budget. Think "Lost in Space" or "The Martian." Structures provide benefits that carry on to the next solo character playthrough.

In the spirit of survival cinema, going to draw cards for backstory and character between missions.

Technology: 5

Robotics: 2

Info Tech: 1

Engineering: 3

Analytics: 3

Physics: 2

Biology: 3

Navigation: 2

Adaptivity: 4

Survival: 3

Communication: 1

Navigation: 2

Spacesuit upgrades (after one session):

Multitool: Reroll a bad die.

Energy Shield: Prevent harm.

Resource Converter: Trade resources for data or energy.

Diagnostic Algorithms: Advantage on infotech rolls.

Structures:

Fusion Power Plant: +1 max energy.

Session 1: Chewed on by local fauna, roasted in a heat vortex, biologically poisoned and infected multiple times, hit by a computer virus, and lost in fog.

[moonbasetycho]

Once thought stolen and lost, the original 3’ model of the USS Enterprise has been found. The screen used model was posted on eBay. Bids got up to $1500 but the seller closed the auction after Rod Roddenberry got in touch with the seller. The seller bought it in an auction of abandon storage unit. This is the model used in the episode The Cage

Facebook group with original information:

[cuddleswinchester]

If y’all are going to STLV, you can find me on the Roddenberry Stage on Thursday and Saturday, 1:30pm, doing makeup demos!!

I didn’t put together a panel this year and Rod didn’t get their stage official until this week, so I offered to fill time for them last minute. And that means you can stop by and get TRILL SPOTS from me!!!

[dailynicknews]

via NickALive!

[jinglebellrockstars]

just found out gene roddenberry got a son named rod....Rod Roddenberry....

[chonacas]

Founder of Roddenberry Entertainment - A Message of the Star Trek Legacy

EUGENE “ROD” RODDENBERRY President/CEO

Eugene Wesley “Rod” Roddenberry, Jr. serves as guardian of the Roddenberry legacy, which traces back to the original Star Trek.  Through inspiring science fiction projects and philanthropy, he champions its timeless and universal ideals as embodied by the philosophy of IDIC: Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations.

The son of legendary science fiction producer Gene Roddenberry, whose Star Trek series changed the face of television and continues to inspire today, Rod has followed in his father’s footsteps to be a catalyst in the creation of a world where humanity works together for the greater good.

In 2004, Rod became chief executive officer of Roddenberry Entertainment, a science fiction leader with a tradition of groundbreaking entertainment. The company builds on the best of Gene Roddenberry’s work and continues to develop a multimedia slate of thought-provoking projects spanning film, television, graphic novels, comic strips, podcasts and other mediums. Rod is executive producer of Star Trek: Discovery, heading into its third season in 2020, as well as the live-action Star Trek: Picard and the animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks, to debut in 2020. He also spearheads the Roddenberry Podcast Network, whose Mission Log is distinguished as the most downloaded of all Star Trek podcasts.

In 2011, the critically acclaimed documentary Trek Nation chronicled Rod’s decade-long journey to explore his father’s life. The undertaking inspired him to fully embrace the vision Gene had for the world and invest himself in its future. One expression of this was the founding of the Roddenberry Foundation, which funds innovative solutions that address humanity’s greatest challenges across such areas as science, technology, education and the environment.

  Stay Connected: 

https://www.roddenberry.com

https://roddenberryfoundation.org

https://www.instagram.com/eugeneroddenberryofficial/

    https://www.chonacas.com/links

  Business: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiechonacas/

      Check out this episode streaming now in over 100 countries